Detecting mechanism for sole grading machines



D. PARKS 2,204,820 DETECTING MECHANISM FOR SOLE GRADING MACHINES June18, 1940.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOB; DENNIS PARKS Y @4441 M 1 ATTORNEY Filed May12, 1939 FIG. I.

D. PARKS 2,204,820 DETECTING MECHANISM FOR SOLE GRADING MACHINES June18, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12, 1939 June 18, 1940. PARKS2,204,820

DETECTING MECHANISM FOR SOLE GRADING MACHINES Filed May 12, 1939 3Sheets-Sheet I5 FIGS. 53

I N VE N TOR; DENNIS PAR/1'5 ATTORNEY Patented June 18, 1940 UNITEDSTATES ran,

DETECTING MECHANISM FOR SOLE GFADING MACHINES Dennis Parks, St. Louis,Mo, Application May 12,1939, Serial No. 273,215

' 9 Claims.

The general object of this invention is to pro-.

vide novel grade detecting mechanism for sole grading machines, whichwill enable soles of various sizes and widths to be readily graded 5along appropriate imaginary lines of grading extending longitudinally ofthe soles at the sides of the forepart, or tread, portion thereof.

It is customary in the shoe industry to grade soles according to thethickness of the thinnest portion of the sole detected by the gradingmechanism; and it is also custom-ary'to subject only the edge portion ofthe sole at either side to the grading operation; and usually thegrading or detecting mechanism is arranged to operate along lines ateither side of the fo'repart removed anywhere from one half to threequarters of an inch from the sides of the sole.

Sole grading machines as now commonly employed for this purpose employsubstantially cylindrical detecting rollers which are ralsed'or loweredby variations in. the thickness of the sole the latter are successivelypassed under them to set the grading mechanisrn,'which latter term isused to cover, generally, either mechanism lor stamping the solesaccording to the thickness at the thinnest portion thereof detected bythe grading rollers, or mechanism for causing soles of like thickness tobe assembled in bins or the like by automatic mechanism, or mechanismfor sorting the graded soles, whether stamped'or not. Some types ofmachines embody in the grading mechanism a knife, or other means forskiving the soles to reduce them to the thickness of the thinnestportion of the sole novel adjustable grading mechanism which may bereadily adapted to grade soles of anywidth,

from the smallest to the largest size employed, and which will alsoenable the grading to be properly performed on solesvarying in contouras well as width. 5

detected by the grading rollers, and the soles' With the above generalobject in view, my invention resides in providing a bank of gradingrollers of uniform diameter and superimposed above a feeding rollercommon to all of the grading rollers, the grading rollers being arrangedin close juxtaposition to each other and being mounted for rotation in.individual, movable supports, capable oi being adjusted to raisecertain. of the rollers out of operative position, whereby any tworollers oi the bank of rollers may be selected for the gradingoperation, while the other rollers may be raised above the two selectedrollers so as not to be affected by the passage of soles under thelatter rollers in the grading operation.

Another object of the'invention is to provide adjustable guides forproperly feeding soles of different contours under the selected roller.For example, if substantially straight soles are being graded, two ofthe grading rollers at equal distances from the central roller of thebank would be selected and the guides adjusted to insure the soles beingfed under these rollers. But if the soles being graded have a decidedswing at one side, then a grading roller for this side of the solefurther removed from the central grading roller would have to beselected, and either or both guides would be adjusted to insure thepassing of the soles in the proper position under the selected rollers.

As the bank of rollers is as wide as the widest sole that would begraded, and as the grading rollers are close enough together to allowthe rollers in the central portion of the bank to be selected for thesmallest width of sole that would be graded, it is obvious that any tworollers in the bank of rollers may be selected which are the properdistances apart to grade along the opposite sides or the sole; and thatany two rollers, other than the two rollers at the extreme endsof thebank, separated by the required distance from each other, may beselected, so that the two selected rollers may be nearer to, or fartherfrom, either side of the bank of rollers, according to the contour ofthe soles being graded at particular time.

The invention also embodies novel means for raising, or renderinginoperative, the grading rollers not being used in the gradingoperation.

I have shown my improved grading mechanism as embodied in a machine ofthe type 11- lustrated in the pending application of Dennis Parks,Serial No, 209,399, filed May 21, 1938; and as the present invention isonly concerned with the provision of a bank 'of grading rollers, with.means for selectively utilizing any two of such rollers, and withadjustable guides for soles to be passed under said rollers, only somuch of said machine is illustrated as is necessary to render a completegrading operation understandable. That is to say, as the soles passunder the grading rollers, the latter detect the thinnest part of thesoles at either edge, and the roller passing over the thinnest part ofthe sole is caused to adjust the heighth of a grading pin which iscoordinated in movement with the grading mechanism, and each pin soadjusted in position as each sole passes under the grading rollersselectively operates any one of a series of mechanisms which aredesigned to stamp the grade of the sole thereon and to cause it to bedischarged into one of a series of bins for soles of that particulargrade. The mechanism for stamping and sorting the graded soles is fullydescribed in the Parks application referred to and in the present case Ihave shown simply a portion of this mechanism to illustrate theoperation thereof in cooperation with my improved grading rollers.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a part of the upper portion of a sole gradingmachine showing my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on an enlarged scale taken on the line33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,and

Fig. 5 is a broken view, partly in front elevation and partly insection, and viewed from the left of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral I, Fig. 1, indicates a driveshaft, driven in any suitable manner, as by a pulley (not shown), andhaving a bevel pinion 2 meshing with a bevel gear 3 which is fast on theupper end of a vertical shaft 4, Fig. 2, which through the medium ofgear connections, not shown, operates to rotate a circular carrier 5(Fig. 5) in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon.

The drive shaft l is mounted in bearings 6 provided on the uprightportions 7 of a frame memher 8, which is secured on the upper side of acircular platform 9 (Figs. 2 and 5) located above the rotary carrier 5.

Mounted in bearings I!) provided in the side frame members 8 is across-bar II, which is provided at one end with a sprocket l2 (Fig. 2).

Mounted in bearings l3 on said frame members is a cross-shaft l4 havingon one end a sprocket IS in line with the sprocket H2. The drive shaft lis provided on one end with a sprocket I 6 in line with the sprockets I2and i5. Mounted on these three sprockets, to be driven by the sprocketI5, is a sprocket chain IT. The shaft H has mounted thereon centrally ofits length a second sprocket !8 (Figs. 2 and 5) on which is mounted oneend of a continuous sprocket chain I 9, which is driven by the sprocketl8 and is 1 provided at intervals with projecting lugs 20.

The sprocket chain I9 is a feed chain, and is adapted, in the operationof the machine, to be continuously rotated by the sprocket l 8, each lug20 in turn operating to engage the rear end of a sole and carry itforward to the grading mechanism, as will presently appear. The shaft Mhas also fixedly secured thereon a feed roller 2!, which operates byfrictional contact to pass each sole delivered to it by the feed chainl9 beneath a bank of grading rollers, indicated consecutively by thenumerals 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 21, and 28 (Figs. 1 and 3). The manner ofmounting and operating these grading rollers will now be described.

Fixedly secured at its opposite ends in bosses 29, provided on the upperends of upwardly inclined portions 30 of the side frame member 8, is across-bar 3|. The series of grading rollers 22-28 are respectivelymounted for rotation in a series of grading arms denoted, in order, bythe numerals 32, 33, 34, 35,, 36, 31, and 38, each of which is providedtowards its outer end with a bearing 39 by means of which it ispivotally mounted on the cross-bar 3|. Each of these grading arms iswidened and recessed, as indicated at 40, to provide a housing for agrading roller, which is rotatably mounted therein on a short axel 4|mounted at its ends in opposite sides of the recess 40. At its extremeouter end, each of the grading arms 32-38 is provided with a set screw42, extending through and projecting beyond the bottom of the gradingarm, and adapted to rest on a grading bar 43, (Figs. 1, 8 and 4) whichextends beneath the series of set screws 42. Each set screw is providedwith a binding nut 44 for maintaining it in adjusted position. That isto say, each lower end of each set screw is adapted to lightly contactthe upper side of the grading bar 43 when the particular grading rollerof its grading arm is in operation,

and the adjustment referred to is a mere shop adjustment to secure the,proper contact of the screws with the grading bar.

Secured on the cross-bar 3!, as by binding screws 45, is a yoke frame46, which extends beyond either side of the series of grading arms32-38. This yoke frame projects rearwardly and upwardly from thecross-bar 3! and has a straight portion 47, which is parallel with thecross-bar and is provided with a series of equidistant apertures 48, ineach of which is mounted a rod 49 having a hook 50 on its lower end.Each of the grading arms 32-38 projects rearwardly of the cross-bar 3|and is provided on its underside with a lug 5! forming a contact hearingwhich is seated in the hook 550. To this end, the shank of each hookprojects through an opening 52, (Fig. 4), in the rear extension of eachgrading arm, and its hook 59 extends under and engages the contactbearing 5!. Each of the rods 49 is screw threaded at its upper end andhas mounted thereon an adjusting nut 53 and clamping nut 54, andsurrounding each rod is a coil spring 55, which extends between thestraight portion 4'! of the yoke frame 46 and a washer 56, which isengaged by the adjusting nut 53, by turning which nut the tension of thespring 55 may be regulated.

Projecting rearwardly from the straight portion 41 of the yoke frame isan integral flange 57 which is provided throughout its length withseries of equi-distant apertures, in each of which is mounted anadjusting screw 58 having a knurled head 59 for turning it. Eachadjusting screw 58 is positioned directly over the rear extension of agrading arm, 32-38, and the lower end of the screw normally engages therear end of the grading arm, shown by Fig. 2. However, when a sole ispassed under the two grading rollers, said grading rollers and theforward end of the grading arms, are raised, turning the rear end ofsaid grading arms below, and out of contact, with their adjusting screws52. shown with respect to the grading arm 35 in Fig. 4. For guiding thesoles as they are being fed to the 1 by Fig. 2.

grading rollers I einploy the following mechanism.

Suitably supported by the two side frame members 8 are two parallelsupports 60, 62, respectively, which are flat and smooth on their upper5- sides to permit soles to be readily moved thereover. The inner edgesof these supports are separated a suflicient distance to permit theupper run of the feed chain 9, and the lugs 20 carried by said chain, towork between them, the

upper run of the chain being slightly below the upper surface of thesupports, and the lugs20 being adapted to project above the same toengage the rear end of soles placed on the supports to carry themrearwardly to the grading mechanism.

extends transversely of the machine beyond the outer sides of thesupports 60, 6|, and is supported at opposite ends on standards 64,which rise from the stationary platform 9, as shown The numeral 85indicates a presser bar, which is supported from the bar 62 by means ofpivoted links 66, and is normally pressed downward toward feed chain I9by means of a leaf spring 61 interposed between its upper side and theunder side of a bar 62, being maintained in parallel relation with theupper run of the chain, or with the platform 6|1-6|, by means of thelinks 66, as will be understood. Each of the supports 60 and 6| isprovided with a lateral ex- .tension 68, each of which is recessed onits upper side to provide a groove 69, serving as a guideway. Slidablypositioned on the top of each of the supports 60 and 6| is a guide-rail,HI, respectively, which are parallel with each other and teach of whichis provided intermediate its ends with a lateral projection, 12, 13,respectively, which are provided with slots, 14, 15, respectively, whichwork over binding nuts, 16, 11, respectively. According to the width ofsoles to be graded, the binding nuts 16, 11, are loosened andguide-rails H1, H, adjusted in position on the supports 60, 5 I, so asto engage opposite sides of the soles, to insure of their being carriedforward by the feed chain IS in the proper path to pass under the twograding rollers selectedfor detecting the thinnest part of either edgeportion of the soles. Either guide-rail can be adjusted in position onits support independently of the other in order to properly direct thepath of soles differing in contour.

In practice the soles to be graded will be removed one at a time from abin mounted over the supports 60, 5|, by the lugs 2|] on the feed chainH3, in the manner described and illustrated in the Parks applicationabove referred to. However, for the purpose of the present description,it may be assumed that the soles are placed on the supports one at atime by the operator in position to be engaged by the respective lugs 20on the feed chain and thereby be carried to the grading rollers andforced between any two of these rollers and the feed roller 2|, thelatter thereafter causing the sole to be moved under said gradingrollers until it passes beyond the same. I

According to the width of the soles, or to their particular contour, twoof the grading rollers are selected for operation which will engage thesole along lines adjacent its edge portions, as the sole is fed underthem by the feed roller 2|, and the rollers not employed are raised toinoperative position. This is accomplished, as shown by the dotted linein Fig. 4, by screwing down the adjusting screws 58 so as to depress therear ends of the grading arms 32-38 carrying the grading rollers whichare to be rendered inoperative. In this operation, the lugs 5| of thegrading arms affected will force the hooks 50 downward against theresistance of their springs 55, and the forward ends of the grading armswill be lifted to raise the contact screws 42 out of engagement with thegrading bar 43. Thus, in

the operation of grading soles as commonly practiced,-that is, bydetecting the thinnest part of the sole at either edge portion,--five ofthe grading rollers, in the present instance, will be raised toinoperative position, while two of these rollers will be employed in thegrading operation. for any reason, it should be desired to detect thethinnest portion occurring in any part of the sole, all of the gradingrollers, or as many as necessary for the purpose, could be employed.

As to the grading-rollers in operation, such as the roller 25 shown inFig. 4, the spring 49 normally exerts a regulated upward pull on therear end of its grading arm, so that when a thin portion of the solepasses under this grading roller, the power of the spring will be addedto the force of gravity in causing the roller 25 to fall to the extentdelimited by such thin portion of the sole and thus move the grading bar43 downward a proportionate distance. If a subsequent thicker pontion ofthe sole passes under the grading roller 25, the result will be that thecontact screw 42 will be lifted out of engagement with the grading bar43, but the latter will remain in the position to which it hadpreviously been lowered by reason of the roller 25 descending into thethinner part of the sole.

The grading bar 43 is curve-d upward and back upon itself as indicatedat T8 in Figs. 1 and 3, the body of the bar being provided with a guidebearing 19, and the curved portion, which is parallel with the body ofthe bar, with a guide portion 80, these guide bearings slidablyreceiving a slide bar 8|, carrying at its lower end a grading head 82,as shown by Fig. 2. A collar 83 is secured on the slide bar 8|, and acoil spring 84 is interposed between this collar and the underside ofthe guide bearing 79 of slide bar 8|. The slide bar and its connectedparts are located in an open housing 85 mounted on the platform 9, asindicated at 86, and a coil spring 81 is interposed between the platformand the collar 83. The slide bar 8| extends through an opening 88 in theplatform 9. As the grading bar #3 is lowered by reason of a. thin spotin a sole passing under one of the grading rollers, the slide bar 8|will be lowered by reason of the guide bearing 19 on the grading barexerting pressure on spring 84 which in turn exerts pressure on thecollar 83 fast on said slide bar.

The motions of the machine are so synchronized that one of a series ofgrading pins 39 mounted in the rotary carrier 5, will pass under thegrading head 82 as a sole is passing under the grading rollers, and saidgrading pin will be lowered to the extent that the grading head islowered by the descent of one or the other of the grading rollers. Inthe continued movement of the car- ,rier 5, the adjusted grading pin 89will pass from under the grading head 82 and engage one or the other ofa series of contact members 9|], Fig. 5, and turn the sole engaging andclamping mechanism, indicated generally by 9|, into engagement with thesole 92, which previously has been discharged by the feeding roller 2|on to a slide 93, from which it falls on to a table 94 on carrier 5,where it is engaged by the holding and marking device 9| as previouslystated. In the further rotation of carrier 5, the sole being held by thedevice 9!, table 9 will move from under it and the graded and markedsole will fall on to a slide 55, W 1-3 it delivered into a bin.

Reieirlng to Fig. 2, the curved portion of the grading bar 43 is held incontact with the underside of a hub 96 provided with a setting disc 91,which is held in adjusted position by a locking lever 98. The hub 96 islocked to the slide bar Bl by means of a pin 99 passing through said huband a slot 1G6 formed in the upper end of the slide bar. The upper endof slide bar Si is screw threaded and provided with an adjusting headlfil which bears against the upper end of hub 96 of the setting disc.The purpose of the setting disc is to enable the operator to turn thegrading head 82 so as to determine the length of the grading operationin accordance with the length of soles being graded; and the purpose ofthe adjusting head is to enable the slide bar 8| and its grading head 82to be raised or lowered to secure accuracy in the grading of the soles,all of which is fully set forth in the Parks application referred to andneed not be more fully described, as these features, in themselves, formno part of the present invention.

The grading rollers 22-28 may be of any desired thickness, and arelocated in as close proximity to each other as it is mechanicallypossible to do. While I have found that seven of these grading rollerswill ordinarily be sufficient to enable an ordinary width or contour ofsole to be graded, the number of these rollers could be increased ifthought desirable, and where, in a particular factory, the soles do notgreatly vary in width or contour, five grading rollers may provesuificient for grading purposes.

Whatever number of rollers employed, it will be seen that the inventionenables the operator to select and place in operation any two gradingrollers in a bank, thus aflording a wide range of adjustment without inany manner disturbing the normal setup of the machine. It will be ofcourse apparent that other means than adjusting screws could be employedfor holding the inoperative rollers elevated, but adjusting screwsprovide a simple and inexpensive way of accomplishing this result.

I claim:

1. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of grading rollers, means for selectively renderinginoperative any of said grading rollers not required for a gradingoperation, and means for feeding soles under and in contact with therollers in operation.

2. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of grading rollers arranged in close juxtaposition,means for selectively rendering inoperative any of said grading rollersnot required for a grading operation, and means for feeding soles underand in contact with the rollers in operation.

3. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of independently mounted grading rollers arranged inclose juxtaposition, means for selectively rendering inoperative any ofsaid grading rollers not required for a grading operation, and means forfeeding soles under and in contact with the rollers in operation.

4. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of independently mounted grading rollers arranged inclose juxtaposition, means for raising to inoperative position any ofsaid grading rollers not required for a grading operation, and means forfeeding soles under and in contact with the rollers in operation.

5. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of grading rollers more than three in number, meansfor selectively rendering inoperative all but two of said gradingrollers, and means for feeding soles under and in contact with the tworollers left in operation.

6. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a bank of at least five grading rollers arranged in closejuxtaposition, means for selectively rendering inoperative all but twoof said rollers, means for feeding soles under said two grading rollers,adjustable means for guiding the feed of the soles to cause the sideedge portions only thereof to pass under said two grading rollers.

7. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a support, a bank of grading rollers arranged in closejuxtaposition and extending transversely of said support, means forselectively rendering inoperative all but two of said grading rollersrequired for a grading operation, means for feeding soles over saidsupport and under and in contact with the two rollers in operation, andadjustable guiding means on said support for causing the side edgeportions only of the soles to pass under said two grading rollers.

8. Grading mechanism for machine comprising, in combination, adepressible grading bar, a series of independently pivotally mountedgrading arms, a grading roller mounted in each grading arm, a series ofadjusting screws normally in engagement, respectively, with the upperside of said grading bars, and adapted to be turned to raise the forwardends of all but two of said grading arms and carry the rollers mountedtherein to inoperative position, an adjusting device mounted in theopposite end of each grading arm and normally in contact with the upperside of said grading bar, and means for feeding and guiding soles tocause their side edge portions only to pass under and in contact withsaid two grading rollers.

9. Grading mechanism for a sole grading machine comprising, incombination, a depressible grading bar, a series of independentlypivotally mounted grading arms operatively associated at their forwardend with said grading bar, a grading roller mounted in each grading arm,adjustable means associated respectively, with the other end of eachgrading bar, and adapted to be operated to selectively raise the forwardends of all but two of said grading arms to lift the rollers mountedtherein out 01" operative position, springs operating normally to holdthe forward ends of the grading arms in contact with the upper side ofsaid grading bar, and means for feeding and guiding soles to cause theirside edge portions to pass under and in contact with said two gradingrollers.

DENNIS PARKS.

a sole grading

